Pro-life groups have praised Rev Joanna Jepson, a Hereford vicar, for challenging the lawfulness of allowing the abortion of a baby because it had a cleft palate. The vicar is seeking a judicial review of the West Mercia Constabulary's refusal to investigate the abortion, which was done recently in a hospital in Hereford. "That a child could be killed simply because of a condition which can often be almost completely repaired by modern surgery, shows how callous we are becoming as a society - and how merciless the abortion industry now is" said Nuala Scarisbrick, National Administrator of LIFE. "All abortion is wrong. But to destroy a special-needs baby just because he or she is less than 'perfect' is particularly despicable. "It is impossible to believe that a cleft palate constitutes a 'serious handicap' as the Abortion Act understood that term. The Act is being openly flouted by abortion doctors, and it's good that someone like that vicar has had the courage to say so. "We should all have the humility to admit that none of us is 'perfect.' We all suffer a disability of one kind or another, some more serious than others., A spokesperson for Comment on Reproductive Ethics said: "Whether performed early or late in pregnancy, the idea that we will tolerate abortion simply because an unborn child is developing with a cleft-palate or lip ought to revolt even the most liberal member of society. "There have been some 25 abortions for cleft palate in recent years, along with hundreds of other abortions for different abnormalities, including many late terminations of Down's syndrome babies. We are living in a society obsessed with physical perfection, and to abort those who do not measure up to our eugenic standards is tragic for the unborn who are killed and offensive to the thousands of living disabled citizens whose rights we pretend to respect. "Pro-abortion experts, asked to comment on this case, are suggesting that abortion is a private matter between the parents and doctors. This is simply flagrant misinterpretation of the law. Sadly Parliament did choose to legalise abortion but it never intended it to be available on request. "We congratulate Joanna Jepson for bringing this story to public attention. We hope she will be successful in her legal challenge, but at the very least that it will give the public the opportunity to learn more about the reality of abortion in modern Britain. And hopefully, the Abortion Act will be subjected to rigorous review as soon as possible. An on-line Femail opinion poll suggests that 69% of the public would already welcome such a move."